• The Heart Institute has been a member of the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) since its inception. This study reported on developing an extensive audit and validation process of the Collaborative’s clinical data registry.
  
  

• The COMPASS Trial – Comparison of Methods of Pulmonary Blood Flow Augmentation in Neonates: Shunt Versus Stent, is the first prospective, randomized clinical study designed to assess and characterize safety, efficacy, and outcomes in the use of either systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt or ductal artery stent in neonates with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow.
  
  

• The Heart Institute was selected to participate in the Medtronic Harmony TPV post-approval study. The Pittsburgh program will also be participating in a new multicenter registry of native RV outflow tract transcatheter pulmonary valve devices, designed to track long-term outcomes following development of this new procedure.
  
  

•  A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology details procedural and care cost comparisons for the treatment of neonates with symptomatic tetralogy of Fallot through either a primary or staged repair strategy.
  
  

• Division Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Victor O. Morell, MD, co-authored a new paper presenting results from a multicenter clinical trial that examined the first use of a biorestorative valved conduit (Xeltis pulmonary valve – XPV) in children.
  
  

• A multidisciplinary team of cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons from the Heart Institute published results from a new study exploring findings from cardiac MRI imaging prior to operative repair of Ebstein’s anomaly with the cone procedure that can predict the likelihood of postoperative right ventricular dysfunction.
  
  

•  A recent study from researchers at the Heart Institute examined whether the size of the tricuspid valve as ascertained using transthoracic echocardiogram in patients with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot is associated with right ventricular volume and a clinical necessity for pulmonary valve replacement.
  
  

• Published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging in January 2022, a new review article for pediatric cardiologists and radiologists explores the characteristics, applications, and challenges in using myocardial parametric mapping as a clinical tool in pediatric cardiology.
  
  

• The study was published in May 2022 in Circulation: Heart Failure and constitutes the largest study published to date on arrhythmia in pediatric patients with a ventricular assist device.
  
  

• The study found that Viagra and an over-the-counter drug called tauroursodeoxycholic acid restored processes that drive heart failure in cells derived from patients, opening potential avenues for new hypoplastic left heart syndrome treatments.
  
  

• As heart cells mature in mice, the number of communication pathways called nuclear pores dramatically decreases, according to new research from University of Pittsburgh and UPMC scientists. While this might protect the organ from damaging signals, it could also prevent adult heart cells from regenerating, the researchers found.
  
  

• The team found that a protective gene was countering a genetic mutation, explaining why some people with this very deleterious gene not only survived but did so with only an atrial septal defect – a hole in the heart. The findings – reported in Cell Reports Medicine – provide valuable clinical and personal information to guide families with a history of the disease and could lead to future genetic treatments.

• New Director of Cardiac Clinical Operations | Craig P. Dobson, MD
• New Director of Noninvasive Imaging | Laura J. Olivieri, MD
• Adult Congenital Heart Disease Specialist - Natasha Wolfe, MD
  
  

• UPMC Children’s Congratulates Bernhard Kühn, MD, on American Pediatric Society Membership
  
  

• The Cardiac Cath Lab: Where Research and Medicine Collide – Featuring Bryan Goldstein, MD, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at UPMC Children’s
• Getting to the Heart of MIS-C and Myocarditis – Featuring Tyler Harris, MD

CME Course: Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Congenital Heart Disease

• Bryan H. Goldstein, MD, FACC, FSCAI, director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at UPMC Children’s gives a lecture on the diagnostic skills needed for identifying adults with congenital heart disease to reduce mortality and morbidity, pulmonary valve replacement to mitigate complications from Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and other conditions,and recommend processes and procedures for TPVR in patients with TOF.
  
  

• In October, UPMC Children’s hosted for the first time the bi-annual meeting of the Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative (CCRC). The CCRC is a multi-institutional group of pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons conducting multicenter clinical outcomes research.  Bryan H. Goldstein, MD, FACC, FSCAI, director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at UPMC Children’s, was a founding member of the organization and continues to lead the organizations research efforts with colleagues from the collaborative’s members. UPMC Children’s Heart Institute co-director and Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, Jacqueline Kreutzer, MD, FACC, FSCAI, gave the meeting’s keynote address.
  
  

Lifetime Management of the Aorta Symposium

• On January 7, 2023, the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s and the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute combined forces to host the Lifetime Management of the Aorta symposium.
  
  

• In 1993, Dr. da Silva created the Cone procedure, a surgical technique to repair Ebstein's anomaly using the patient's own tissue. Now, almost 30 years later, it has become the gold standard of treatment for this congenital heart defect. Dr. da Silva and Dr. da Fonseca da Silva have successfully performed more than 360 Cone repairs on patients ranging from newborns to adults.